Tobacco-packaging machine.



E. L. BRAOY. TOBACCO PACKAGING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 21. 1914.

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E. L. BRAGY.

TOBACCO PACKAGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1914.

1,()99,1 14, Patented June 2,1914.

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Edward Z, Zrag, flfim" Jib/way coLunmlA PLANOGRAPH co.,\vAsH|NGTON. n. c.

EDWARD LBRACY, GE SCOTLAND NECK, NOR-TH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOIB; T0 RICHARD H. WEIGHT, 015 DUB/HAWK, NORTH CAROLINA.

TOBAGCO-PAGKAGING MACHINE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

llatented June 2, 1914.

Original application filed December 11, 1911, Serial No. 685,0?7. Divided and this application filed January 21, 1914. Serial No. 813,514.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. Bnaor, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scotland Neck, in the county of Halifax and State of North Carolina, have invented new and useful improvements in Tobacco-Packaging Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines of the class adapted to introduce charges of material, especially tobacco,into bags, packages, or other receptacles, and the object of the invention is to provide in machines of this class a plunger preferably serving to force or transfer a charge of tobacco from a chamber, particularly a compression chamber, into the bag, package, or other receptacle, the plunger including a yieldable body of felt or equivalent material which acts as a wiper to prevent accumulation of tobacco upon the walls of the compression chamber or passageway through which the plunger reciprocates, and to provide means to supply a lubricant to the felt or other yieldable body of the plunger and thereby assist in preventing accumulation of tobacco upon the walls of the chamher or passage through. which the plunger operates.

lhe present application is a division of my prior application, Serial No. 665,077, filed December 11, 1911.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tobacco packaging machine embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 represents a vertical section through the supply hopper for the material, the packer, and one of the molds, the packer being shown in position to compress or pack a charge of material above the bag or receptacle and the plunger in readiness to force or transfer the charge to the bag or receptacle; Fig. 3 is a detail View of another form of plunger.

Similar parts are designated by the same reference characters in the several views.

The present invention isapplicable generally to packing or packaging machines, although it is especially adapted for use in connection with tobacco packing or packaging machines wherein the material being handled is of a gummy or sticky nature.

in the accompanying drawings the invention is shown in connection with a tobacco packaging machine of the type illustrated and described fully in my prior application aforesaid, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to machines of this particular type and also that the invention is not restricted to the precise construction shown as equivalent constructions within the scope of the claims at the end of the specification are included.

The general construction and mode of operation of the machine shown in Fig. 1 is described fully in my prior application aforesaid, and hence it is considered unnecessary to explain the same in detail in the present application. For convenience, however, it may be stated that the machine, as shown, comprises generally a base or main frame 1 which supports a table 2, the latter having the various devices mounted thereon which are en'lployed and the driving mechanisms are shown below the table 2 and supported on the base or main frame 1.

3 designates the continuously rotating main or power shaft having a cam 4; fixed thereon, and 5 designates a secondary or countershaftwhich operates certain mechanism as fully described in my prior application aforesaid and which it is believed unnecessary to refer to here. A support 6 is mounted above the table 2 and is provided with a mold 7 which is adapted to contain a bag, package, or other receptacle into which the charge of tobacco or other material is to be introduced. In the present instance, a bag 8 is shown within the mold 7 with its, mouth open and ready to receive a charge of material. The charge of material, for example tobacco, is compressed into compact form and is of appropriate shape and size before the charge is introduced into the bag, package, or other receptacle in the mold. Different means may be employed to compress or pack the charge. in the present instance, a supply hopper 9 is provided into which the tobacco or other material is deposited. The lower or discharge end of this hopper is mounted in a frame 10, the latter being supported on the table 2 by a bracket 11. The frame 10, as shown, embodies two side members arranged in parallel relation as will appear from Fig. 1, and the space between these members contains the packing or compressing means which in the present instance embodies a pair of coiiperative packing or compressing members 12 and 13 which are in substantially the form of platens having flat compression surfaces. These packing or compression members are fixed on shafts 1st and 15 respectively, such shafts being offset outwardly with respect to the planes of the compression surfaces of the respective packing members. One of the packing members, the member 13 in the present instance, swings in an arc-shaped path below the bottom or outlet end of the hopper 9 and it preferably serves to control the feed of the material from the supply hopper to the compression space between the packing members. For this purpose the member 13 carries a segmental valve 16 at its outer side and the periphery of this valve is curved about the shaft 15 as an axis.

When the packing members are in position to compress the charge, as is the case in Fig. 2, the valve 16 extends across and closes the bottom of the hopper 9, as shown by the full lines in said figure, and when the packing members are in open position to receive a charge of material, the valve 16 uncovers the bottom of the hopper 9 and the compression member 13 serves to direct the material into the pocket or space formed between the packing members, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The packin members 12 and 13 are suitably connected whereby they may simultaneously swing toward and from one another. In the present instance these members are connected by segmental gears 17 and 18 which are fixed to the shafts 1 1 and 15 respectively whereby they will cause operation of the packing members in predetermined relation, and one of the shafts, the shaft 15 in the present instance, has an arm 19 fixed thereto and this arm is operatively connected to suitable means for actuating the compressing or packing mechanism. For example, as shown, the arm 19 is connected by a link 20 to a crank arm 21, the latter being fixed to a shaft 22 journaled in a bracket 23, the latter being fixed to the table 2, and a lever 21 is fixed to the shaft 22 and is provided with a roller or projection 25 which operates in the cam groove 26 of the cam l, the latter serving to operate the packing or compressing mechanism at appropriately timed intervals.

hen the charge of material has been compressed between the members 12 and 13, the walls which define the two sides of the compression chamber containing the charge are in substantial parallelism and are in substantial alinement with the bag, package, or receptacle contained in the mold 7. Preferably, the chamber of the packing or compressing device and which contains the charge is of substantially the same shape as the shape to be possessed by the filled bag or package. The transfer of the charge from the compression chamber to the bag is efi'ected preferably and as shown by a plunger which operates through the compression chamber or the space formed between the packing members 12 and 13 and thereby forces the packed charge from this space into the bag or receptacle contained in the mold. The plunger in the present instance is reciprocated by a rod or stem 27, this rod or stem being fixed to a vertically movable cross-head 28, and said cross-head is guided by the frame 29. The lower end of the stem 27 in the construction shown is furnished with a head 30 which is adapted to bear upon the top of the charge of tobacco confined between the packing or compressing members.

In order to avoid accumulation of the gummy or sticky tobacco upon the compression surfaces or the walls of the compression chamber, a plunger of novel construction is provided. As shown in Fig. 2 the plunger includes a body 31 of felt or similar material which fits closely against the walls of the compression chamber and has a wiping action thereon. In the construction shown, this body of felt is held between a pair of heads on the stem 2'7, the pressure of the felt or yieldable body against the walls or surfaces of the compression chamber being regulated by the amount of compression exerted upon the felt or other yieldable body by the heads 32, a nut 33 being threaded on the stem 27 to regulate such compression.

To assist the felt or yieldable body 31 in preventing the accumulation of tobacco upon the surfaces with which the tobacco comes into contact, means is provided for supplying this felt or yieldable body of the plunger with a lubricant. The lubricant can be supplied to the felt or yieldable body of the plunger in difierent ways. In the present instance, a cup or well 34: is formed in the upper portion of the frame 10 and around an opening 35 which is formed therein for the passage of the plunger, this cup having a suitable number of apertures 36 which lead from the cup or well into the opening 35. This cup or well is adapted to contain a supply of lubricating substance or material and the latter is applied through the apertures 36 t0 the felt or yieldable body of the plunger. By supplying a lubricant to the felt or yieldable body of the plunger, this felt or yieldable body will spread a film of the lubricant upon the walls of the compression chamber with which the tobacco comes in contact and will therefore prevent adherence of the tobacco to these walls. Hence such tobacco as may have a tendency to adhere to the walls of the compression chamber will be readily removed by the felt body of the plunger during the reciprocatory movements thereof.

Fig. 3 discloses another form of plunger which may be used, the lower end of the stem 27 in this instance being provided with a head 37 which is adapted to bear upon the charge of tobacco, and a plurality of felt or equivalent yieldable bodies 38 are applied to the stem above the head 37 and rigid separators 89 of metal or other suitable material are interposed between the felt bodies, the whole being compressed by a pair of heads 40 and an adjusting nut 41. The necessary reciprooatory movements may be imparted to the plunger in different ways. In the present instance, the cross-head 28 to which the plunger is attached is actuated by a vertically reciprocatory rod 42, the lower end of this rod opcrating in a guiding sleeve 43 and is formed with rack teeth which cooperate with a gear 44. The gear 44 is fixed to a shaft 45 which is journaled in a suitable bracket on the base 1 and said shaft has a pinion 46 fixed thereto. A reciprocatory rack bar 47 operated at appropriate intervals by a cam on the shaft 3 cooperates with the pinion 46, rotating the gear 44 at appropriate intervals, and thereby imparting reciprocatory movements to the rod 42, cross-head 28, and the plunger at appropriate intervals.

I claim as my invention 1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a compression chamber, and means for supporting a receptacle to receive a charge from said compression chamber, of a plunger operative through said compression chamber to transfer a charge therefrom to a receptacle, said plunger including a yieldable body cooperative with the walls of said compression chamber, and means for su plying a lubricant to said yieldable body 0' the plunger.

2. In a machine for packaging tobacco, the combination with a chamber to contain a compressed charge of tobacco, of a plunger operative in said chamber to remove such charge therefrom, said plunger having a yieldable body having a wiping engagement with the walls of the compression chamber, and means for supplying a lubricant to said yieldable body.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of cooperative relatively movable members forming walls of a compression chamber, a plunger operative between said members, said plunger comprising a yieldable body cooperative with the walls of said members, and means for supplying a lubricant to said yieldable body of the plunger.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of cooperative compression members adapted to form a compression chamber having parallel walls, a frame having an aperture in alinement with the compression chamber between said members, a plunger operative through said aperture and said compression chamber, said plunger comprising a yicldable body cooperative with the walls of said aperture and compression chamber, and means for supplying a lubricant to said yieldable body of the plunger.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD L. BRAGY. Witnesses:

CLARA A. FISHER, BEVERLY W. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

